


A Moment to Be Real

by LesbianLametron



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Angst with a Happy Ending, Breaking Up & Making Up, M/M, Magic, Misunderstandings, One-Sided Relationship, Pining, Pining Lance (Voltron), Spells & Enchantments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 03:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17358179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LesbianLametron/pseuds/LesbianLametron
Summary: Lance runs the local flower shop in town and his favorite activity is searching for new types of exotic flowers to fill his shop. While reading an article online, he discovers a common flower wildflower with a strange tale. They grow in a field only an hour's drive from the town. Excited about the new flower, Lance sends them in a bouquet to his long-standing crush: Shiro.





	A Moment to Be Real

**Author's Note:**

> My second fic that I forgot to post from the "Kiss Me" shance zine. The prompt for this one was "I Almost Lost You Kiss" and the idea was originally from a flower exchange that didn't work out so I adapted for the zine.

Lance hummed to himself as he carefully arranged the flowers and tied them up with a purple bow and blue tissue paper. The bright purple asters really complimented his shop’s specialty, the bluebells. The bell above his door tinkled and Lance beamed at Keith as he lazily made his way to the counter. Normally the appearance of Keith didn’t make him this happy, but Keith had offered to deliver Lance’s flowers to his boss, Shiro.

“You’re really taking your time making those look pretty. They’re just flowers,” Keith taunted him with a smirk.

“Of course you wouldn’t get it, Keith, you’re not a flowers kind of guy. It’s all about the presentation. This is the first impression he’ll get of me.” 

“No, the first impression was you stumbling over your words when you met him because you were blown away by how attractive he is.” Keith smirked, making the joke.

Lance blushed a little remembering when he met Keith for lunch at his office. He knew about Shiro of course, Keith talked about his boss all the time.  He just wasn’t prepared for how attractive he would find Shiro. He literally stumbled over his words and nearly forgot his own name. Shiro just smiled and brushed it off like it had been no big deal. Or maybe he had just been trying to spare Lance’s feelings. 

Either way, if he got a date out of this, he would blow Shiro away with how smooth he could be when he tried. He smiled and fluffed the tissue one last time before handing the flowers over to Keith.

“A small part of me wants to throw these in the trash just to annoy you,” Keith joked. 

“A small part of me wishes you weren’t always so straightforward.” Lance rolled his eyes and smirked a little. “Remember if you do that, I won’t give you my manager's number.”

Keith thought about Hunk for a moment and smiled to himself. So he was basically in the same boat as Lance. He couldn’t really make fun of him too much. “I know. I’ll make sure Shiro gets them and he reads your cheesy note.” 

“I’ll text you Hunk’s number after he calls me,” Lance called, waving to Keith as he walked out, not missing Keith’s ‘I’m sure that will happen’ comment. Keith could doubt all he wanted to, but Lance had a good feeling about today, it would be a good day.

* * *

 

Lance surprisingly didn’t have to wait long, his phone rang with an unknown number and Lance’s heart kicked into overdrive. “Hello?” 

“Lance? It’s Shiro. I got your flowers and I’d love to go out on a date with you. Does Saturday work?” 

“Really?” Lance had to bite his lip to keep himself from screaming. He just couldn’t help but get excited when he had a crush. “I mean, yeah, of course!” 

“Sounds good, I’ll pick you up at 6 at your place.” 

“I can’t wait!” Lance said probably a little too eagerly, but he didn’t care. He hung up the phone after the discussed the logistics for the date and there was a bit of strange feeling blossoming in the back of his head. It was almost if all of this worked out too perfectly, like it was too good to be true. He wanted to ignore it, but at the same time he couldn’t quite shake it off.

* * *

 

Lance heard the rumbling of a motorcycle coming to a stop outside of the shop. He pulled back the curtains and gasped as he saw Shiro dismount his bike and pull off his helmet. Fuck, did he look good in that leather jacket. He was used to Editor-in-Chief Shiro who wore suits and reading glasses. Apparently there was very much a duality to Shiro’s personality. He was the smart book editor and a bit of a cool guy. Lance was already loving every new thing he discovered about Shiro. He quickly grabbed his jacket and wallet, running out to see Shiro. 

“I didn’t know you drove a motorcycle,” Lance commented the moment he was in speaking distance of Shiro. “Is this Keith rubbing off on you?” He was thrilled that whole sentence managed to come out without tripping over his words. 

“I do, and no, we’ve both always been into them. I hope that’s okay. I should have asked if you were fine with getting to restaurant this way, we could always take your car or something.” There it was, the considerate nerd peeking through the cool guy persona. 

Lance smiled, finding the whole exchange kind of endearing. “No worries, I’m flexible.” He accepted the helmet and slid on to the back of the motorcycle after Shiro had gotten on. Shamelessly, Lance sat as close as possible, winding his arms around Shiro’s waist. Hey, it was a date after all and Shiro had chosen a very intimate mode of transportation. 

Shiro didn’t seemed phased by him, but Lance had a feeling he was more flustered by all of this than he let on. First dates were always kind of like that, trying to act cool and put on a good impression. In his opinion, Shiro might have been trying a bit too hard to look cool, but then again he had a problem with doing that as well. 

Feeling the wind whipping past them, purposefully holding Shiro, and being so free. This must be why Keith loved motorcycles so much. He was starting to see the appeal and could see himself doing this more and more with Shiro. It would be perfect. They pulled up to the restaurant and Lance was a bit sad they had to stop, but that also meant that he’d get to actually talk to Shiro. 

They sat down together and Lance ordered a perfect bottle of wine to go with their meal. Lance was still a bit nervous now that this was all happening. He wondered if Shiro was too, but he was just better had keeping his face calm. 

“Those flowers were really beautiful, Lance. How long have you run the flower shop?” 

“A few years. I took it over from my parents when I graduated college. It doesn’t make me the richest guy around, but I really love what can be said with flowers.” Lance smiled, his eyes lighting up when he talked about the different flowers and their meanings. He realized he had been talking mostly about himself and his likes a bit too much. Shiro didn’t seem to care, he seemed happy just being able to listen. 

“So what’s the major project you’re working on now?” He decided to ask Shiro about himself for a change. Shiro’s eyes immediately lit up and he went on describing this young writer they had just picked up. She was a brilliant fantasy writer and her use of language was well beyond her years. Shiro was a complete nerd and Lance loved it. They finished out the night trading stories and laughing together. 

Lance didn’t always kiss on the first date, but this one he couldn’t help. Shiro seemed just as eager and leaned down to kiss him first. It was magical in all senses of the word. No kiss was ever completely perfect, but this was close as possible. They both went home with dorky smiles spread across their lips. 

* * *

The first date went really well, and in Lance’s opinion almost a little too well. The second was just the same, but after the third, that’s where things started to go haywire. Shiro had confessed his love and started to become almost maniacally obsessed with Lance. At first Lance didn’t quite get it, but then he started to put the pieces together. It was the aster flower. Lance knew the legend before he sent it, but he always had written it off as folklore. No way could it be real. They were just pretty and unique flowers.

His heart sank when he tested their powers out on Keith. In cases without romantic feelings, the sender could ask one favor of the receiver. Keith did it with no questions, no eye rolling and no grumbling. It was as if he was forced to do it. That’s when Lance had found out. He had put Shiro under a spell. No wonder everything had felt it was going too well. It wasn’t real. 

He had put it off for some time now, but he couldn’t do it any longer. Tonight he would break the spell. He’d set Shiro free even if it was the last thing he wanted to do. 

“Shiro, I can’t do this anymore. I was afraid because I didn’t want to lose you, but I—”

Shiro stood up and shook his head, grabbing Lance’s hand. He cut him off right away, already sensing where this was going. It was like he was clinging on to Lance for dear life, as if letting Lance speak those words would send him to his grave. That coupled with the desperate, but manic look in Shiro’s eyes equally thrilled and terrified him. It wasn’t right. “No, please Lance I love you. I love you so much, tell me what I can do, and I’ll change. I’ll do anything.”

Lance wanted Shiro’s love, but not like this. After he found out, Lance had tried to hang on, tried to deny the truth, but the longer he did, the more manic Shiro became. It wasn’t right. He wanted real love, a love he could feel, and one that wasn’t just one sided. He had to do this for them to move on. Shiro would act like the perfect boyfriend and he would do anything Lance would ask. He would stay and hold on even when they should let go. But none of those actions would be because Shiro chose to, Lance would soon become numb to everything. The guilt would never leave him. Shiro didn’t really feel any of those things.

“Shiro, this isn’t real.”

“Don’t say that! It is!”

Tears started to form in Lance’s eyes as he heard the desperation in Shiro’s voice. It hurt him to even hurt Shiro for a moment. “I promise what I feel for you real, but on your side it’s not. Just let me explain.”

“No! My feelings are real!” Shiro squeezed Lance’s hand harder with his words, clinging to enchantment as tightly as he was to Lance.

“The flowers I sent to your office, they contained a flower with real enchantment properties. It’s called the aster flower and it’s a very rare wildflower that comes in both red and purple. It casts an enchantment on whomever receives them. Usually it just grants one wish of the sender. But, the danger comes in the when the enchantment intertwines with romantic feelings. Then it becomes more of a curse, I would say. It puts the victim under a trance that grows stronger with every day that passes. It was only a rumor, I didn’t think it was true, but now I know. I accidentally put you under that spell. You don’t love me Shiro. The aster flower makes you love me.”

Lance spit out the explanation as quickly as he could so Shiro wouldn’t have time to interrupt. 

Finally when he was finished he look up at Shiro. What he saw in Shiro’s eyes was the culmination of his worst fear about breaking the curse.

The minute he uttered those last words Shiro’s enchantment was broken and Lance could swear he saw it shatter like glass in his eyes. Shiro retracted his hand from Lance’s like he’d suddenly been burned by Lance’s touch. “You  _ forced  _ me to love you?”

“No, I-I didn’t know! I heard the rumors about the flowers, but I sought them out for their rarity, not because I believed in the spell. I thought the purple ones paired nicely with the bluebells that I sent you.” Lance’s heart was hammering his chest, beating so fiercely that he thought it might explode. He was going to lose Shiro. What a fool he had been thinking that Shiro would stay after he found out.

Shiro did seem to understand that the enchantment had been an accident, but he still looked upset. “When did you find out the enchantment was real?” He crossed his arms, not ready to let his guard down just yet.

Lance swallowed, this was the bad part. “Two weeks.” He closed his eyes and winced, knowing it was bad now that he said it aloud. “Wait,” He held his hands up, palms facing Shiro, as sort of barrier between them and tried to evade Shiro’s anger. “I’m sorry, I know that sounds bad, but I really do like you. My feelings are real. I didn’t want to lose you. I thought, maybe I could find a way to make you really love me and that would break the curse. Or—” He sighed, if he was honest that wasn’t it. “I had liked you for so long, I just didn’t want to let go. I knew I had to and that’s why I’m telling you now. I wanted it to be real.”

“Two weeks?! You kept me under the spell even though you knew. You held me against my will. What kind of person does that? How can I trust you after that?” Shiro just shook his head in disbelief. There was more anger brewing under the surface that he wasn’t letting out. He was just too done to blow this up into a big fight.

Lance was speechless. He didn’t have an answer for Shiro. He knew it was a lie, but sometimes the life was easier than the truth. Eventually though, the truth would have found its way to the light and they would have ended up in just this situation. Lance wanted it to be real, so he could feel something from Shiro, but now he felt empty inside.

“Never come near me again.” Shiro grabbed his things and walked out of Lance’s apartment, slamming the door behind him. That sound echoed in Lance’s ears long after it had rang out, haunting him just like Shiro’s words. “ _ You held me against my will. What kind of person does that?”  _ His mind played them over and over like a record until the grooves were so bent out shape, that the words distorted, birthing doubts and surreal thoughts of their own.

“… _ You held me against my will. What kind of psychopath does that?” _

_ “…spending time with you, pretending to love you, made me sick, Lance.” _

_ “…I would never really love you.” _

Lance was spiraling out of control, drowning in regret and tears. All he could do was drop to his knees and wish he could redo everything.

* * *

 

Yeah, he considered have Keith send him the aster to grant him that wish, but somehow, he felt it would make it worse. He wished things were different, but he was done using magic to change them. That night he had gone down to his shop and burned every last aster in the place. He hoped those flowers would never terrorize another human being. They were much more dangerous than they seemed, thorns hiding behind their beautifully rich colors.

Lance would like to say he was getting over it, that he was moving on, but that was the furthest thing from the truth. He ran the shop from afar, barely leaving his apartment and relying solely on his employees. The thought of selling flowers just sickened him now. What other powers could they be innocently hiding? They only brought up memories of Shiro. The times in between, before Shiro’s love became consumed by his mania, Lance really thought they had a connection. He enjoyed being around Shiro, but his feelings had been the only real ones.

Even Keith had started worrying about him, coming by the shop and coming upstairs to pound on his door. He begged Lance to come out and do something other than order take out and mope. Lance just couldn’t bring himself to even think about being around other people. Whose else’s life had he accidentally ruined? The asters had been in his shop for almost two months and he knew he sold at least some of them.

Lance’s phone buzzed, the sound reverberating off his bedside table. It was probably Keith again and he didn’t want to answer it. Right now, he wished he hadn’t ever befriended Keith. So annoying. He groaned and checked, recognizing the number as the one from his store. It was work-related call, he couldn’t just ignore that one.

“Hello? What’s going on?”

“Sir, there’s a customer here asking for you by name.”

Lance sighed and pulled himself out of bed with considerable effort. “All right, I’ll be down in a moment.” He threw on a random clean set of clothes, not showing the slightest care for his appearance. He just needed to look passable. Lance walked down the stairs, entering the shop through the back room. Plastering a fake smile on his face, Lance walked out to the front of the store. His mouth dropped open and he let out gasp when he saw Shiro standing by the window, admiring the bluebells.

“Shiro? You asked for me?” He walked out from behind the counter, still in shock.

“I did.” Shiro flashed him a small, polite smile. “I did research on the aster flower. It does have a special significance with love and enchantment. Pidge showed me a couple of books on ancient spells. She looked at me like I was crazy, but I had to know. Apparently, the aster does not create feelings of love, it only amplifies ones that were already there.”

_ Feelings that were already there? What is he saying? Does that mean…?  _ Lance swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. Hope fluttered in Lance’s heart, but he didn’t dare believe in it yet. “What do you mean?”

“Lance, I can’t stop thinking about you. I miss you. My feelings may not have been truly real to that extent, but I was still there. I still laughed with you at your corny jokes and adored your smile. I had already been attracted to you before you sent the flowers.”

“Wait, are you forgiving me?”

Shiro sighed, pausing to ponder it a bit. “I still don’t think you handled it in the best way, but I don’t know what I would have done if I was in your situation. I didn’t want to lose you either. So yes.”

Lance couldn’t help it, he was so overjoyed that he leapt into Shiro’s arms. Before he could even comprehend what he was doing, he kissed Shiro firmly on the lips. Right now, he didn’t care, it was a desperate move, but that’s what he felt right now. He thought he had lost Shiro forever and now Shiro had confessed true feelings. This had been everything he truly wanted. It got better when Shiro kissed him back, pouring his emotions into the kiss. They had both missed each other more than they could say with words.

Lance was tearing up by the time they parted, and he smiled at Shiro, gently stroking his cheek. “I’m so happy you don’t hate me.”

“I don’t think I ever did.” Shiro pulled him into a comforting hug. “Next time though, just ask me out instead of hunting down a mythical flower to win my affections.”

Lance let out a little chuckle. “I promise.” Neither of them were in love yet, but they would get there, they would take their time, but this time it would be real.


End file.
